Patients suffer

A sick woman being taken to hospital on a rickshaw as her attendant holds the saline bag. The photo was taken from Malibagh during curfew hours yesterday.Photo: STAR

Patients faced tremendous sufferings, as no vehicles plied the city streets, medical employees failed to attend their duties and the pharmacists, with or without the knowledge of the curfew, kept their stores closed.
Emergency patients from districts outside Dhaka who had no knowledge of the city were stuck at various entry points for hours, while patients from within the metropolis either were forced to pay a few times high fares for transports or had to wait for many hours.
In some areas patrolling law enforcers on the streets barred groups of patients asking them various questions and even forced them to go back thereby delaying their admission to hospitals that worsened patients' condition.
Rina Begum, mother of a diarrhoea patient Afsana Akhter Brishti, 5, of Azimpur Daira Sharif, said Afsana fell ill Wednesday afternoon and her condition was critical at night.
"Finding all the drug stores closed, we decided to admit her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). But as we reached Azimpur intersection, law enforcers stopped us from going to the hospital," Rina Begum said.
She said she then went back. "As my daughter was seriously ill, I started for Dhaka Medical College Hospital again in the early morning and my brother was also with me. But the law enforcers at Palashi intersection again stopped us and beat up my brother forcing us to go back."
Rina tried again at noon yesterday and luck favoured her this time and she was able to reach DMCH.
Shoeb Hossain, son of Jahanara Begum, 65, said his mother has been admitted to Jahangirnagar Hospital at Tikatuli, but the doctors advised him to shift her to another hospital, as her condition became serious Wednesday night.
"I decided to take my mother to DMCH, but found not a single vehicle. I then found only a three-wheeler uncovered van, but had to agree to pay Tk 200 to the van driver. But on the way from Tikatuli to DMCH, law enforcers stopped me three times," Shoeb Hossain told The Daily Star at DMCH.
After all the trouble, when he got to the hospital, there were not sufficient doctors at the hospital to check up Jahanara Begum and give any prescription. "Only a junior doctor saw my mother, but nothing was suggested," he said.
Zafar Ahmed, father-in-law of pregnant Beena Begum of Uttar-khan, said they had to wait hours from early morning to afternoon to get to DMCH, as they could not find an ambulance.
"As it was a complicated delivery case of Beena, we went to four hospitals at Uttara and Tongi areas which could not help us. Something serious could have happened by this time," he said.
Sheikh Mohammad Ali, uncle of a serious typhoid patient Abu Zaman, 45, said they arrived in Sadarghat by trawler from Sirajganj around 2:00pm, but the real trouble began only when they discovered that there was neither any vehicle nor any people around due to the curfew.
"After an hour of search, we found two three-wheeler rickshaw vans charging Tk 300 for going to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. On the way, the law enforcers stopped us at least at four points," Ali said. The law enforcers allowed the van that carried the patient, but not the other one that was carrying his relatives, Ali said.
Mohammad Alam, a fourth-class employee of DMCH alleged: "I started for DMCH at 1:00pm from my Elephant Road staff quarter, but I was not only stopped, but beaten up by the law enforcers in front of New Market Police Station. They even threw away my ID card."
Hospital sources said many patients left hospitals when the curfew was relaxed, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, yesterday though they were not fully cured. The numbers of such cases were numerous, they added.
Hospital sources said patients admitted to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, Pangu Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and other hospitals also faced shortage of doctors, nurses, technical staff and many could not reach due to the curfew. Those who could move left the hospital during the time when curfew was lifted, though they needed urgent treatment.